Holidays of the Dead – Top Destinations For Zombie Lovers

I’m feeling quite, abandoned shall we say.  It was ever since I was in the middle of a debate over a holiday destination with friends recently. I made the mistake of lamenting aloud over the dearth of zombie themed holidays. At the same time, I discovered a newfound talent to empty a room of friends within seconds.

So now I find myself perusing the single holidays sections of various tour operators in the vain hope of fulfilling my dream, or nightmare as it may sound to you.

I’m sure you see my point. We can tour America, cruise the Caribbean and visit the ancient castles of Europe but we can’t actually trek in the footsteps of zombies.

Grand Canyon

Don’t get me wrong, I can see the undoubted attractions of the options out there. I’d love nothing more than to gasp at the Grand Canyon, boogie on down at a jazz night in New Orleans (can you boogie to jazz? Hey I’ll try) and empty my sparse bank account in the casinos of Las Vegas.  But …

I’ve been aware of my burgeoning fixation of late for films falling into the zombie genre, particularly those with an ‘of the dead’ suffix in their title.  Therapy is pointless and I understand I’m not alone. The success of the TV series The Walking Dead is proof that we need them in our lives.  Rumours also abound that Natalie Portman will be starring in a Pride and Prejudice with zombies adaptation.

Land of the Dead

It’s not a gore-fest thing. I’ve felt sorry for zombies for quite a while. Not only are they cursed to live forever, most of them can only manage a limping, bowed shuffle at best. What’s worse, they enter zombiedom in the clothes they are doomed to wear for eternity, so we have zombie clowns, zombie teachers and even a zombie Burt Reynolds look-a-like in Land of the Dead.

If you look closely next time you visit your discount supermarket, you’ll see a few lurking in the shadows attempting to pass themselves as humans.

We are bombarded with zombie board games, zombie computer games, zombie posters, zombie costumes and even zombie cakes! But no zombie holidays.

So here are my suggestions for a short zombie tour:-

Land of the Dead

Land of the Dead – see the town where they shoot fireworks into the sky and zombies cease their pursuit of human flesh to gaze in awe.  Nifty trick, that.

Dance of the Dead

Dance of the Dead – gaze at the garage where the band played on and stopped lumbering zombies in their tracks.

Diary of the Dead

Diary of the Dead – visit the hospital where hapless students took their friend Mary to try and save her, only to find it infested with zombies!

Dawn Of The Dead

Dawn of the Dead – explore the shopping mall where zombies shuffled in time (ish) to the tune of The Gonk. ‘The Ladies’ Bras’ lyrics were affectionately added afterwards. Look it up on Youtube, I guarantee you won’t stop singing it all day.

Bub

Now meet your tour guide, Bub, the world’s most intelligent and docile zombie and hero of Day of the Dead.

Dead Snow

One to avoid : the risible Dead Snow. What was that about? Where were the shuffling undead that we’ve come to know and love? Where was the humour? Nasty Nazi zombies and clueless teens talking in subtitles? Never a good look.

Alas, it’s not to be.  Instead, I’ll continue to search for activity holidays and live in hope that a like-minded tour operator will one day seize the opportunity and fill such a desperate gap in the market.  At least there’s the chance to go alien hunting in Roswell while I wait and who knows what we might find there!

Katie is an avid gamer with a passion for travel, writing and searching for the opportunity to head out on a zombie tour